SpaceX Just Broke a Major Milestone in Commercial Space Travel

In Brief

Elon Musk says his team will conduct a test launch of the Falcon Heavy in late summer as they prepare to orbit the Moon in 2018 with two passengers in the first commercial spaceflight.

Major Static Fire Test

SpaceX conducted its first test of the Falcon Heavy’s main core this week, with a successful result. SpaceX took to Twitter to release the video of the event. The rocket itself was strapped down for the static fire test as the engines of the rocket’s boosters were ignited. The Falcon Heavy uses three Falcon 9 boosters to power its larger rocket, which SpaceX hopes will make commercial space travel a reality.

While the original plan was to have everything operational for carrying space travelers and cargo into orbit by 2013, the latest incarnation of the plan calls for a launch in late summer of 2017. This successful test may indicate that this date is possible, although the SpaceX subreddit lists the test flight in Q4.

Take Off?

It’s possible that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and his team are waiting to see how much progress they make between now and then — or that they just can’t decide yet. However, as Inverse reports, since Musk tweeted the late summer date in March and the subreddit says something different now, it’s possible that they’ve made the decision to push back the date even later, but haven’t announced it yet.

The Falcon Heavy is essential to Musk’s plan to send two private citizens into orbit around the Moon by late 2018. The spacecraft will “buzz” low over the Moon’s surface, although it will not land, and then allow the Moon’s gravity to fling it back to Earth. This week-long adventure would be more than an amazing first for humanity — it would also usher in era of commercial space travel.